Five-Minute Film Festival: Teaching Digital Citizenship "Digital citizenship" is an umbrella term that covers a whole host of important issues. Broadly, it's the guidelines for responsible, appropriate behavior when one is using technology. But specifically, it can cover anything from "netiquette" to cyberbullying; technology access and the digital divide; online safety and privacy; copyright, plagiarism, and digital law, and more. In fact, some programs that teach digital citizenship have outlined no less than nine elements that intersect to inform a well-equipped digital citizen. But while there is much talk about the importance of teaching digital citizenship in this information society, not many are sure what that really looks like. Video Playlist: Teaching Digital Citizenship Watch the player below to see the whole playlist, or view it on YouTube. What is Digital Citizenship? More Resources for Learning About Digital Citizenship
A Personal Cyberinfrastructure © 2009 Gardner Campbell. The text of this article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License ( EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 44, no. 5 (September/October 2009): 58–59 Gardner Campbell (Gardner_Campbell@Baylor.edu) is Director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning and an Associate Professor of Literature and Media at Baylor University. Comments on this article can be posted to the web via the link at the bottom of this page. Cyberinfrastructure is something more specific than the network itself, but it is something more general than a tool or a resource developed for a particular project, a range of projects, or, even more broadly, for a particular discipline. — American Council of Learned Societies, Our Cultural Commonwealth, 2006 Sometimes progress is linear. But that wasn't progress. Then the web changed again: Google, Blogger, Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. Notes
instaGrok | A new way to learn 7 Essentials for a Great Computing Course If you find yourself in the position of having to set up and run a new Computing course in school, where do you start? Here are seven factors that I consider to be essential. Safety first Everyone should feel safe in the classroom, not just from physical dangers such as trailing wires, but also from being shouted down or drowned out by other students (such as girls sometimes experience from the boys), being shown disrespect, or being subjected to the experience of stumbling upon racist websites or pornography, perhaps because of a lack of appropriate filtering. Because even otherwise civil and civilised adults sometimes become feral when online, keeping safe and being respectful to others are things that have to be taught rather than assumed. The curriculum must be challenging The course should stretch students. I tend to think of the ZPD as a kind of halfway house between too easy and impossible. The course must have perceived value There should be a clear progression pathway
How To Get Rid Of Facebook Notifications & Other Annoying Things You Don’t Want To See [Weekly Facebook Tips] It’s funny how sometimes you can use an online service all the time, getting annoyed at little things without realising there’s an easy way to do something about it. Several of my friends who use Facebook almost every day recently told me how they hate always getting Facebook notifications for dumb games people want them to play, or updates about these games in their home feed. Obviously, if these people can be avid Facebook users without knowing there’s a fix, then there’s bound to be a few more of you out there too. As I can’t even begin to imagine the horrors of using Facebook with all those annoyances in my face, I feel I should go back to basics here and make sure everyone knows how to get rid of them. Getting Rid Of Unwanted Notifications To sort out your Facebook notifications settings, head to the arrow in the top right of Facebook and choose Account Settings from the drop-down menu, then “Notifications” from the left hand side. Handy Tip: Filter Notifications Well In Your Email
Education Week —Courtesy of Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for American Education: Images of Teachers and Students in Action By Anne Jolly If you want to engage students and get them excited about what they are learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes, ask them to tackle a real-world problem. Working on solutions to real-world problems is the heart of any STEM investigation. Perhaps the most important consequence of students working on real problems is that they begin to develop empathy—a sense that there is something worth dedicating their efforts to outside of themselves. Criteria for Selecting Real-World Problems Designing real-world engineering challenges for K-12 students can be tough. Here are some of the criteria I consider when selecting real-world problems: • The problem must be real. • Students must be able to relate to the problem. • The problem should be “doable.” • The problem must allow for multiple acceptable approaches and solutions. Problem Possibilities
Information Literacy - Home What is Information Literacy? Information Literacy is the ability to identify what information is needed, understand how the information is organized, identify the best sources of information for a given need, locate those sources, evaluate the sources critically, and share that information. It is the knowledge of commonly used research techniques. Information literacy is critically important because we are surrounded by a growing ocean of information in all formats. Information literacy skills are used for academic purposes, such as research papers and group presentations.
Texas Educator Amy Storer Takes PBL to a Whole New Level | Tynker Blog Texas has a long history in the pantheon of computing, so it’s no mystery that Texas still creates thousands of computing jobs and will eventually need code-minded students to fill those. Montgomery, TX, educator Amy Storer – also a Tynker Blue Ribbon Educator – makes creativity in the classroom her focus. Along with other dedicated code-minded educators, Amy even moderated Monday’s #Tynkerchat on Twitter! Here’s a little more about Amy: Amy is graduate of Lamar University with a Master’s in Educational Technology Leadership. This week, Amy shared her excitement for a new school year of sharing: 1. My motivation comes from a student that I had in my class when I taught 4th grade math/science. 2. Kids want to code. 3. My favorite project is “Let’s Take a Trip to Mars.” 4. I am learning more and more from the wonderful group of educators that make up #PasstheScopeEDU. 5. Never treat a new school year like any other! Creativity over consumption is crucial in classrooms today.
The Keys to Inquiry: Introduction "We learn best when we learn from our own experiences." "Children need to be active learners, seeking answers to questions that they care about.""Science should be hands-on and minds-on so that children make sense of what they experience." The goal of the Everyday Classroom Tools Project is to provide opportunities for students to learn that inquiry and their own experiences can help them achieve a deeper understanding of their world. This document has two sections. Author: Tina GrotzerProject ZeroHarvard Graduate School of Education Section I Section II ECT Home Page | Introduction to the Threads of Inquiry | Contents of the ECT Pages
Why Schools Need to Introduce Computing in All Subjects: Northwestern University News This article originally appeared in The Conversation on February 8, 2016. By Uri Wilensky In his recent State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said schools need to offer every student hands-on computer science classes to be better prepared for the workforce. President Obama is right: the next generation of learners will require a high level of fluency with modes of thinking in which computers act as interactive partners. The question is: how best to make sure they acquire that thinking? More computer classes There is widespread agreement that computing should play a more prominent role throughout our education system. The STEM Education Act of 2015 was recently passed into law, expanding the definition of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to include computer science and encouraging more STEM education efforts. Seven of the nation’s largest school districts are adding more computer science classes. Shortage of students Here’s what the current picture looks like:
Virtual Information Inquiry: Information Inquiry In inquiry-based learning environments, students are engaged in activities that help them actively pose questions, investigate, solve problems, and draw conclusions about the world around them. As independent thinkers, children become researchers, writers, videographers, and activists rather than passive receivers of a textbook's content. They do meaningful work that addresses essential questions and important standards. It's critical that learners take ownership of the inquiry process. Questioning is at the core of information inquiry and drives the teaching and learning process. According to Barbara Stripling in Curriculum Connections through the Library (2003, p. 3-4), "inquiry learning follows a fairly standard process that involves starting with what the learner knows, asking intriguing questions about what is not known, investigating the answers, constructing new understandings, and communicating the share those understandings with others". Quality Inquiry Environments Learn More
5 Things That Should Be Taught in Every School Let’s be honest: our education system is fucked. I mean, almost all of the important history I learned between grades 5 and 12 I could probably find on Wikipedia and understand within a few weeks now. And pretty much any basic scientific knowledge you could ever want to learn is explained with pretty videos on YouTube. Yet we’re still pushing kids through the same curriculum their grandparents went through. It’s cliche at this point to say that the most important things you learn in life you don’t learn in school. But why couldn’t these things be taught in school? Call me bitter. Obviously, when I rule the world — which should be any day now, waiting to hear back from some people — we won’t have these problems. But before I get carried away fantasizing, let’s get real. 1. Seriously, compound interest runs the fucking planet. Note: If you would choose the chocolate bar over the silver, and don’t understand why this is a horrible decision, meet me at this footnote. 2. 3. Or: 4. 5.